You will find hints of lemon and lime throughout with the juniper and telltale gin flavors at the end.”

I’m a newly-minted gin fan. Prior to last summer, I had rejected gin as rotgut that had turned so many promising evenings of my college years and twenties into involuntary sessions of kneeling before a toilet. Come to think of it vodka had that effect on me too.

Digressing. I was at my neighbor’s house one evening and he was out of beer. Far too lazy to make the 100-foot walk home, I faced the choice between nothing, and a Hendrick’s with tonic with lime. Maybe my tastes have changed. Maybe I no longer binge drink hard liquor. Maybe it was that my neighbor’s gin didn’t cost $9.99 and come in a plastic handle. Whatever it was, my reintroduction to gin was successful and led to a journey of juniperian discovery.

Anderson Valley’s G&T Gose does not quite taste like its namesake, but it’s close. It smells full of lemon with a bright gold hue and a constant stream of bubbles from the base of the glass. The initial taste is all gose. Salty, sour notes cross the tongue and make a vigorous first impression. Take a second sip to investigate the flavor profile further, and you will find hints of lemon and lime throughout with the juniper and telltale gin flavors at the end. The gin flavors are immature and could stand to smooth out further to harmonize, but the addition of salt covers most of that up. The finish is dry and crisp, and the body and feel are light to moderate.

Sure, it’s a little gimmicky to dump a bunch of juniper, lemongrass, and grains into a beer recipe and attach the gin name to it. But it’s experimental and doesn’t require months of aging in barrels to make. And, in the end, that’s okay.